Age of Empires IV is the fourth installment of the award-winning Real-Time Strategy (RTS) series developed by Relic Entertainment and World’s Edge. It was published by Xbox Game Studios—don’t worry, you don’t need a Microsoft Account—on October 28, 2021 for PC.
Like any other RTS game, Age of Empires IV lets you build units and group them together to launch mass attacks on the enemy. A command as simple as grouping your units is easy to learn—but what if you want to un-group your units instead? Sure, it’s easier to sacrifice them to free up a control group, but there is a way to ungroup your units. This guide will teach you how.
How to Group Units in Age of Empire IV
Double-click a single unit on your map. If there are other units visible, they will all be selected. If you want to combine different unit types, simply right-click and drag your mouse across the map to them all.
On your keyboard, press the Control (Ctrl) key plus any number from 1 to 0. For example, pressing Ctrl+1 forms a control group in the 1 key. If you want to select that group again, just press 1.
How to Select a Group
Click the shortcut to the group you want to disband. If your group is not focused on the map, just double press the shortcut key and the camera will move straight to your units’ location. For example, double-pressing 1 on your keyboard or numpad immediately shows you where control group 1 is on the map.
How to Group Units in Age of Empire IV
Do not select any units.
Press Ctrl plus the number that you want to ungroup. For example, you want to disband control group number 1. Press Ctrl+1 while no units—and I mean none at all—are selected. The group that was initially bound to the 1 key will be disbanded.
How to Merge Unit Groups
Select two different unit groups that you previously created.
Press the Shift key plus any number that is currently assigned to one of the groups you selected.
For example, you selected groups 1 and 2. Pressing Shift+2 will merge the two groups as one, and the shortcut will be bound at the 2 key.
If you want to merge your units to a new shortcut, just select a number that is previously unused. So pressing Shift+3 will set your merged groups to the number 3 key.
What’s New in Age of Empires IV
If you have played an Age of Empires game before, then you will definitely love their latest entry. You have eight different civilizations to choose from, each one with unique units and tactics. Age of Empires IV launched with four main campaigns for a total of 35 missions that span across 500 years of world history. Now that is a lot of content for an RTS game that fully runs on modern gaming systems.
If you are new to the franchise, the Campaign Story Mode is a good place to start. You will learn the basics of base-building, resource management, and combat until you’re ready to take on higher difficulties. Don’t worry, this mode is still challenging enough for veteran RTS players to experience and enjoy.
According to the developers, official mod support will also be added to the game in early 2022. So you have more than enough time to finish the historical campaigns before the modders add more content and enhancements to the game.
Lastly, the game features an online mode that lets you play with up to 7 other players. Choose between Player vs Enemy (PVE) or Player vs Player (PVP) modes.
Age of Empires IV is currently available on Epic Games, Steam, or Xbox Game Pass.
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